Ninth Army Corps

On September 17, 1862, Ferrero's Brigade of Sturgis' Division in the U.S.A. Ninth Army Corps, commanded by Brigadier General Edw. Ferrero and composed of the 51st New York, 51st Pennsylvania, and 21st and 35th Massachusetts Infantry, carried the stone bridge and formed under cover of the high ground north of it, with Nagle's Brigade on its left. Willcox's, Scammon's, and Rodman's Division formed in advance and moved on Sharpsburg, but after those three divisions were repulsed and retired, Ferrero and Nagle advanced to check Confederate pursuit. The left and center of Ferrero's Brigade halted under cover of the crest of the ridge beyond the ravine, while the right, the 35th Massachusetts, continued to Otto's Lane, 270 yards away, and engaged Confederates posted there, behind the stone walls on both sides of it, and in the 40 acre Cornfield to the south. The fighting continued into the night, and Ferrero's Brigade suffered heavy losses, most of them in the 35th Massachusetts, which had 214 officers and men killed and wounded.

Shepherdstown, Maryland · United States